Founded by Joseph Huang (a former software engineer intern at Google), Jessica Tsoong, Darin Tay and Dave Millman, WiFiSLAM developed technology to pinpoint a smartphone's location within 2.5 meters. The company uses ambient Wi-Fi signals (which are already present in many buildings) to provide this info in real-time.

By acquiring WiFiSLAM, Apple will be able to bring indoor maps of malls, airports, convention halls and other indoor complexes to iOS.

Apple is not the first company to explore the possibilities of indoor maps, however. Two years ago, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced that it would bring indoor maps exclusively to its mobile phone platform, Android.

IKEA, Mall of America and Home Depot (NYSE: HD) were among the first businesses Google supported with indoor maps. Chicago O'Hare, San Francisco International and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were some of the first airports supported by the initiative.

Google, which employs more than 53,000 people, developed most of its mapping technology in-house. While Apple has more individuals on its payroll (72,800 as of October 2012), the company has enlisted in the help of outsiders to build and tweak its various mapping tools.

Apple stunned the world when it announced that Google Maps would not be included as the default maps app with iOS 6. The iPhone maker replaced Google Maps with its own application (which was simply titled "Maps"), promising users that it would deliver a "better way" for users to find their destination.

That goal proved to be a greater challenge than Apple anticipated, leading to a legion of complaints and an official apology from the company's CEO, Tim Cook.

Noam Bardin, the CEO of Waze (a community-based traffic and navigation app for iOS and Android), was one of Apple's harshest critics.

"Apple went out and partnered with the weakest player," he told Business Insider, referring to TomTom (OTC: TMOAF). "They're now coming out with the lowest, weakest data set and they're competing against Google, which has the highest data set."